The ongoing persecution of Donald Trump has created uneasiness in America as those who are paying attention come to grips with the fact that powerful federal agencies can and will target those deemed to be a threat if their political views do not align with the day’s prescribed talking points. Be it the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, or the Pentagon, odds are good that someone is monitoring you in one manner or another — especially if you own a cellphone or a smartphone, which 97% of us do according to Pew Research Center.
In a good news-bad news scenario, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley is set to retire later this year — this being the good news. The bad news is, as reported by The Intercept, one perk Milley will enjoy is a personal security detail to protect him from threats — including “embarrassment.”
More from The Intercept:
The U.S. Army Protective Services Battalion, the Pentagon’s little-known Secret Service equivalent, is tasked with safeguarding top military brass. The unit protects current as well as former high-ranking military officers from “assassination, kidnapping, injury or embarrassment,” according to Army records.
Protective Services’s mandate has expanded to include monitoring social media for “direct, indirect, and veiled” threats and identifying “negative sentiment” regarding its wards, according to an Army procurement document dated September 1, 2022, and reviewed by The Intercept. The expansion of the Protective Services Battalion’s purview has not been previously reported.
Ilia Siatitsa, program director at Privacy International, was skeptical about the government having the ability to monitor those offering negative sentiments toward senior officials.
“There may be legally valid reasons to intrude on someone’s privacy by searching for, collecting, and analyzing publicly available information, particularly when it pertains to serious crimes and terrorist threats,” Siatitsa told The Intercept. “However, expressing ‘positive or negative sentiment towards a senior high-risk individual’ cannot be deemed sufficient grounds for government agencies to conduct surveillance operations, even going as far as ‘pinpointing exact locations’ of individuals.”
“The ability to express opinions, criticize, make assumptions, or form value judgments — especially regarding public officials — is a quintessential part of democratic society,” he added.
Milley does have plenty of reason to be worried about ridicule and criticism flowing his way, as a few of his lowlights were noted on social media:
Mealy Milley and Raytheon Austin are sensitive to critics about their Afghan fiasco, their recruiting failures from going woke,their unneeded vaccine mandates for some of fittest risk profiles who are now having medical issues, and of course the Ukraine tax payer spend fest https://t.co/53LxWZL054
— Tom Moore (@junogsp7) June 19, 2023
Then again, the best way to ensure a certain behavior may be to warn a nation steeped in the spirit of revolution from pursuing it. Here’s a quick sampling of other responses to the story from Twitter:
The military unit hunting down mean tweets: pic.twitter.com/9Hd35wdi3w
— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) June 19, 2023
I hope I am.
— GayPatriot (@GayPatriot) June 19, 2023
— Magills (@magills_) June 19, 2023
— Stephen Lloyd (@apparentlysteve) June 19, 2023
Is this too mean, Milley? https://t.co/5oFOwF9OU2 pic.twitter.com/n9JE66D7yC
— Adam Gaertner (@veryvirology) June 19, 2023
75 years ago, the military stormed the beaches at Normandy facing almost certain death.
Today, they monitor the internet for hurt feelz.
How far we’ve fallen.
*sigh* https://t.co/7jx6UnYFep
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) June 19, 2023
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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